Researchers have long considered the majority of those affected by autism to be mentally retarded. Although the numbers cited vary, they generally fall between 70 to 80 percent of the affected population. But when Meredyth Edelson, a researcher at Willamette University, went looking for the source of those statistics, she was surprised that she could not find anything conclusive. Many of the conclusions were based on intelligence tests that tend to overestimate disability in autistic people. "Our knowledge is based on pretty bad data," she says.

This hidden potential was recently acknowledged by Laurent Mottron, a psychiatrist at the University of Montreal. In an article in the November 3 issue of Nature, he recounts his own experience working with high-functioning autistic people in his lab, which showed him the power of the autistic brain rather than its limitations. Mottron concludes that perhaps autism is not really a disease at all—that it is perhaps just a different way of looking at the world that should be celebrated rather than viewed as pathology. Having grown up with two autistic brothers—Alex, four years younger than I, and Decker, who is eight years younger—Mottron's conclusion rings true. As I watched them move through the public schools, it became very clear that there was a big difference between what teachers expected of them and what they could do. Of course, their autism hindered them in some ways—which often made school difficult— yet it also seemed to give them fresh and useful ways of seeing the world—which often don't show up in the standard intelligence tests.That is because testing for intelligence in autistic people is hard. The average person can sit down and take a verbally administered, timed test without too many problems. But for an autistic person with limited language capability, who might be easily distracted by sensory information, this task is very hard. The most commonly administered intelligence test, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) almost seems designed to flunk an autistic person: it is a completely verbal, timed test that relies heavily on cultural and social knowledge.

Listen to this 2 experts and understand the potential hidden within these kids..

The Connection between Art and the Individual.I have had the opportunity of meeting a couple of art therapists – both before and during my time as an undergraduate in psychology – and found that the connection between the visual arts and psychology an interesting one. The essence of psychology is the study of the mind, of thought and thinking, and of behaviour. The visual arts could then be said to be, to some extent, the expression of thought and thinking. To borrow a term from Annie Vought, a California based artist who does cut paper art, a piece of work from an individual could be considered as an ‘emotional artefact’.

Calling every single piece of art an ‘emotional artefact’ is debatable – almost as debatable as the big question of, ‘what is art?’ asked by many individuals throughout their lifetimes. Of course, not all artworks and art pieces can be considered as an emotional artefact. Some merely constitute trials (and errors), ‘practice’ pieces, or simply just ‘skill tests’, which is, on a side note, what the KIS Foundation and Elementary programme exercises most of the time. I mention ‘most of the time’ because sometimes the programme calls for a more personal expression of thought, skills and creativity from the children.

In fact, it is these particular pieces would provide a more insightful expression of the individual’s mind. This is because, the thing about producing a work of art is that it requires the presence of a human being, a person who, upon observation, thought, or idea, decides to manifest these observations, thoughts, and idea into an art piece.

That said, while the child’s practice work and skill tests are not art pieces per se, they do hopefully contribute to the child’s ability to control and thus, effectively produce a particular art piece. You can teach a person to fish, but teaching and learning requires time, discipline, and many of the mundane repetitive tasks in between. But, it is with this ‘training’ that such a person would be able to catch any fish that they want, as many as they want, whenever they are so inclined to go fishing.

The key here is confidence. The need to express ourselves by engaging in drawing, painting, colouring, sketching, etc., is not something new – artistic expression goes back to the Stone Age. While I may agree that confidence and skill sets are not pre-requisites of art for various art forms and artistic media, sometimes it all comes down to whether what an individual wishes to express is expressed in the best manner. And sometimes, in order to express a particular thought, emotion, or idea in the best of ways, adequate skills are required – even in abstract art.

If it all sounds pretty vague or superficial, I invite all to ask and discuss among yourselves – teachers, parents, and students alike – these questions: (1) what is art? (2) who is an artist? (3) what constitutes an art piece?

Or to take it to a personal level, ask yourself, what does ‘art’ mean to you?

Contributed by Nurul Wahida.

Wahida is currently doing her Master's in Psychology in NUS. She is also our teacher at our Tampines branch every Saturday and Sunday.

]]>Tue, 22 Apr 2014 04:51:31 GMThttp://www.theartpeople.com.sg/whats-new/june-2014-holiday-programsJune holidays are around the corner. Let them a wonderful time with our special courses provided by all our external vendors.